Christmas has come and gone. Like the title of my blog - Days go By....
I love all the music, lights, feelings and meaning of Christmas, and I'm always a little blue when it's over. This was the first year ever that Ashley wasn't here on Christmas morning. I was sad, but it all worked out okay and it was a happy day!

On Christmas Eve the 5 of us had a light dinner and then decorated sugar cookies.

Ashley and Logan came over around 9 pm and we got the party started! We played a white elephant game, which was fun, and then we sang our traditional songs and Ashley treated us to a solo. Now that was a bonus. :)

The kids opened their pajamas and 2 other gifts. It used to be one, but through the years has progressed to two!

The white elephant gift I ended up with was SnowReal. Casey couldn't wait to try it out. Funny how he happened to be the one to bring it!The kids went to the kitchen and he mixed it up. They all put their hands in it and had a little fun. I left the room while they did the clean up. The package says it's easy cleanup, but the kids said no way, it was a pain. They recommend never using it as part of your Christmas decor.

It's funny how things change as your kids get older. Usually they're the ones getting us up in the morning. This year, at 9:30 am, Mark said, "let's get these kids up and get this started"! We opened gifts and then I made our traditional Christmas morning crepes. Sometimes I wonder WHY I started this tradition!

Christmas morning aftermath!


I didn't take very many pictures, and most of the ones I did take were blurry. I should've assigned the photography to someone else.

Jonathan, Whitney and Ivy came from Portland and shortly after Ashley and Logan arrived. We watched them open their gifts and it felt like morning all over again.

I cooked a big dinner (another tradition I'm thinking maybe I'd like to change?) and we had fun just being together. Of course it's always fun with Ivy and Baylor(the babies) around.

At the end of the day, everyone went their separate ways and for awhile it was just Mark and I. I was exhausted, so Mark sent me upstairs to call my parents while he vacuumed the downstairs and finished cleaning the "remnants" of the turkey dinner. What a great husband I have. Love you Mark!

Mark shoveling Christmas Eve snow. He was showing off when I took the picture and threw it in the air. We had a VERY white Christmas!

Every year we get a Poinsettia. Two days after we bought this one the leaves started falling off. This is what it looked like by the day after Christmas. Isn't it beautiful?!